Lighting source, optical display devices, or other electrical devices on clothing are used to achieve different purposes. For example, adding illumination to a garment for its ornamental effect is used to enhance its fashionability. Lighting system is also used on clothing for outdoor enthusiasts and workers to enhance the wearers' visibleness during evening hours or early dawn hours. An optical display device can be mounted on a garment for advertising or expressing messages. Other uses of electrical devices on clothing include providing heat to warm the wearer.
Typically, these types of clothing are often powered by batteries or contain a power supply component with a notable weight. The additional weight often causes discomfort to the wearer. Thus, a small power source is often used to reduce the weight of the clothing. However, this severely limits the type of electrical devices that can be used on clothing and the hour of operation of the electrical devices. As a result, most clothing with electrical components only contains low power consuming devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or electroluminescent wire (EL wire).
Another problem of any clothing with electrical components is proper insulation. All electrical components must be waterproof so that water cannot enter and damage the electrical components during laundry. Poor insulation, especially after the electrical components being damaged by water, could cause electrical shock to the wearer. The insulation must include the power source. Yet, if the power source component is completely sealed, the wearer will not be able to replace the batteries. Designers of these types of clothing often encounter difficulties between providing the wearer a convenient way to replace the batteries and ensuring safety in insulating the electrical components.
Owing to the limits in providing power and managing the weight of the clothing, the electrical devices used on clothing are usually rather simple devices. A computerized or highly customizable electronic device is seldom mounted on a garment. Although there are garments that contain lighting source or optical display devices, existing garments do not utilize any digital devices to enhance the functionality of the garments. Conventional illuminated garments are largely designed to improve the appearance of the garments. A significant advancement would be a system or method for garments with electrical devices that would provide not only ornamental effects on the garments, but also means for information exchange and digital communication between the garments and other electronic devices in this digital age. Another significant advancement would be an insulated and washable garment with electrical devices that avoid the power and safety problems traditionally associated with electrical devices mounted on the garments.